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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Yes, it *is* the last day of 2013 and New Years Eve and all that jazz--but even more exciting than that: IT'S WARRIOR'S RELEASE DAY!!!!

Yes--that's right. The awesome sequel to PROPHECY is finally hitting stores today (side note: holy crap--I can't believe our group has now reached the point of sequels. Seriously, WHERE does time go?) And if that gorgeous cover doesn't already have you desperate to read, here's the official summary from goodreads:

First an outcast, now a hero.

But her fight rages on.

Kira, the yellow-eyed demon slayer who fiercely protected her kingdom—and the crown prince—has been proclaimed the Dragon Musado of the prophecy. With the defeated the evil shaman.

But it wasn’t enough.

Hansong is in chaos. The Demon Lord’s minions have infiltrated the city, treason is brewing among the military ranks, and Kira is buried by the overwhelming loss of her parents. She’s also plagued by the annoying feelings that blossom whenever she’s around Jaewon. But she is determined that nothing will stop her from finding the second treasure needed to fulfill the Dragon King’s prophecy. Not even the army of half-breed demons hot on their trail. If only she could learn to trust others…

Her father always said one person can change the world. Will it be Kira?

Sounds epic, right? And if you are as eager as we all are to get your hands on a copy, here's a few handy links to help:

Friday, December 13, 2013

Wow, I can't believe it's our last Friday the 13th in 2013--where has the year gone????

Don't worry, we'll be back in January with more truths and dares and public humiliation. But as we move forward into a new year, we thought it might be fun to do something a little special for the 2014 Authors who are about to enter the madness of their debut year. We know how crazy and awesome and stressful the book-launching process can be, and we wanted to share one piece of advice we've learned through our own adventures and experiences.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

I know, you're probably looking at the title and thinking that there's no way Mindy is the author of this blog post. Mindy, who is so clearly acerbic and a downright instigator when it comes to the demise of the HEA. But, I think this makes me the perfect person to write in defense of insta-love in YA, because you can rest assured that I'm not being reactionary in regards to my own book. (You'll notice that Lynn and Eli don't ever say, "I love you." Why? Because- ick).

So, with that pre-disposition of ick in mind, I can still honestly defend the presence of insta-love in YA. Because even though I'm an old, bitter, cautious woman now, I haven't always been. Yes, Mindy used to fall in love, often and easily, just like the vast majority of teens everywhere... which is who YA is being written for in the first place.

Yes, teens fall in love quickly. And there's plenty of evidence to show that they really can't help it. This article from National Geographic regarding the maturation of the teen brain goes into detail regarding their risk-taking, but the last section focuses on how their changing brains function socially:

The teen brain is similarly attuned to oxytocin, another neural hormone, which (among other things) makes social connections in particular more rewarding. The neural networks and dynamics associated with general reward and social interactions overlap heavily. Engage one, and you often engage the other. Engage them during adolescence, and you light a fire.

Yep, it's true. Love is just better when you're young. Their brains are chemically predisposed to fall in love, and anyone who spends more than the average amount of time around teens can attest to this. They enter into emotionally-drenched connections with someone they truly believe is their soul mate in December, then discover in February that it's actually the girl from English class they're into. And the truth is - they probably are. I don't think it diminishes the weight or value of their love to fall into it so easily and so quickly when they are biologically predisposed to behave in this manner.

What I don't like to see in any genre is insta-love that happens as an excuse for lazy writing, with zero spark between the characters and a simple forced-upon-the-reader: These two are in love now. Fact. Most of the time when I see people complaining about insta-love it's because the writer didn't sell the relationship, not because the relationship shouldn't exist in the first place.

My other beef has nothing to do with insta-love, it's insta-stability. I firmly believe teens do fall in insta-love, but they also fall out just as quickly. It's when I see teens portrayed as meeting their one-and-only and being-blind-to-all-others-for-an-extended-period-of-time-with-no-question-of-the-happiness-that-will-extend-into-eternity that I start to get a bit pissy.

Friday, October 25, 2013

So yeah, the little girl wasn't supposed to be a floating head. I swear when I recorded it, more of her body was there. Ha. So that was fun. Thanks Riv Re (from Rivreads.blogspot.com) for the dare! If you'd like to leave us a dare (or truth) click on the Truth or Dare tab above.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Today is the day when I offend everyone. I’m answering the
following Truth, Be honest: have you read
Fifty Shades of Grey? (and thoughts on New Adult/sexy YA/or whatever)

Short answer: yes, I have read Fifty Shades of Grey. Sort of. I mean, I read the first three
chapters and skimmed the rest. That counts as reading, right?

Let's rewind about thirteen months. Late last summer, the director of the public library where I work asked my boss to read Fifty Shades to help decide whether we should carry it in the library. There weren't a lot of critical reviews available at that point, which is one of the main ways we decide which books to carry, but we were getting flooded with requests for "that sex book. You know the one." *significant look*

After about ten minutes of skimming, I found my boss sitting
in the workroom with this look on her face. . . .

She looked up at me. “I can’t do this. Will you read it?”

How could I resist? Clearly, from her expression, there was
something magnificently horrifying happening between the pages. I had to know what had brought that look to her face. I took the book home and managed to stop giggling like a 12-year-old long enough to crack open the cover.

In the end, I couldn't do it either. I stopped reading and
started skimming around the time Bella and Edw. . . I mean, Anastasia and
Christian have an extraordinarily awkward conversation (that was maybe supposed
to be sexy?) at a hardware store. To me, the steamy scenes were just. . . kind of squicky.* It was not my cup of tea.

This Truth has me thinking about how we
write about sex in Young Adult literature versus how it’s portrayed in New Adult like Fifty Shades. Granted, not all New Adult is straight-up erotica. Take the insanely talented Gayle Forman's novels, for example, or Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell, which I am dying to read. But Fifty Shades has brought erotica to the forefront of New Adult, and because of that, people are starting to think of N.A. as fundamentally characterized by cover-to-cover graphic sex.

In Y.A., however, sex is an incredibly
touchy subject. If you don’t believe me, read this wonderful blog post by Beth Revis on a librarian’s response to learning one of her books
contained sex, or take a look at the ALA’s yearly list of banned books. "Sexually explicit material" is the number one reason why books are banned or libraries are challenged for stocking them.

Source: American Library Association

On one hand, I get it. Adults want to protect children from
situations and ideas they’re not ready to handle. I struggled with how to
portray sex in Salvage, which deals
in part with sexual relationships and pregnancy. As a librarian, would I feel
comfortable recommending my own book to teen readers and their parents? Would I
be okay with my fifteen year-old sister reading this? On the other hand, teenagers
are surrounded by sexual content in daily life. It’s on TV and in movies. It’s
in advertisements. It’s in music. It’s a topic of discussion on the school bus.
It’s everywhere.

Sometimes we adults also forget that our teenage years were
the time when we first fell in love, started dating, and became curious about
sex and sexuality. Some of us even began having sex when we were in high
school. If we’re writing honestly about teenage life and the process of
becoming an adult, sex is a legitimate subject. For those teens who are
sexually active, portraying sex in Y.A. accurately reflects their experience
and gives adults a way to talk with teens about how to protect their hearts and
their bodies. For those who aren’t, books are a safe place where teens can
explore the idea of sex without becoming sexually active. It’s an opportunity
to start a conversation about what is and what isn’t healthy in a relationship.

My personal philosophy about writing sex in Y.A. is that
above all, it should be realistic. By that, I don’t mean I think everyone should
be writing really extensive, detailed sex scenes. I mean that when it comes to
talking about sex for a teenage audience, I don’t want to write the kind of
unrealistic fantasy sex I’ve seen in Fifty
Shades and other New Adult erotica. If I’m going to write about sex, I want
to convey the combination of love, lust, confusion, anxiety, pleasure, and discomfort
that go along with a real person’s first sexual experiences. I want to look at the
dangers and the joys. I want to give
teens the information they need to take care of themselves.

I think we owe teens honesty about this experience that’s
looming large in their futures and imaginations. We owe it to them not to add
to the misinformation they’re likely getting from locker room gossip and rumors
on the bus. (Just to refute a few things I heard when I was fifteen - Yes, you can get pregnant the first time! No, taking
monthly oral contraceptives is not the same as getting an abortion. Yes, sex can be
great, but it doesn’t guarantee true love.) Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying
every Y.A. book should deal with sex. Sometimes I just want to read about slaying
dragons and things blowing up without the complication of a romantic
relationship. But when we Y.A. writers do tackle this difficult subject, we
need to do it with maturity, care, and awareness of our audience.

Alexandra Duncan is a writer and librarian (plus amateur photographer, crochet
enthusiast, cinemaphile, and, or course, book fiend). She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from the
University of North Carolina at Asheville, and has been a frequent
contributor to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. She loves
anything that gets her hands dirty – pie-baking, leatherworking,
gardening, drawing, and rolling sushi, to name a few.Her first novel, Salvage, is due to be released by Greenwillow Books/Harper Collins April 1, 2014. You can find her online at Twitter, Goodreads, and her web site.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Fact: J.R Johansson is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She's friendly, generous with her time and a great listener/advice-giver. And yet, somehow, she has some of the creepiest book covers out there. Go figure.

You all remember the freaky awesomeness that was the INSOMNIA cover? You know: shattered glass, darkness, a soul-sucking evil eye? Yeah, that's the one.

Well, today, we present the cover to the sequel, PARANOIA. And let me tell you, it rivals the INSOMNIA cover in creeptastic delights. I truly can't decide which one will haunt my dreams more.

Behold!

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I wasn't kidding, right? CREEPY. In all the right ways. Check out the chilling back cover blurb:

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In
the aftermath of the events that nearly killed him, Parker Chipp is
trying to learn to cope better with life as a Watcher. And it seems to
be working...until he wakes up in jail with a hangover and 12 hours of
missing time. Darkness has somehow taken control and Parker doesn't have
a clue how to stop him. He finds an unlikely ally in Jack, the
mysterious guy in the motorcycle jacket who offers to help Parker master
his abilities as a Watcher. But even as they practice, the darkness
inside Parker is getting more and more powerful, taking over Parker’s
body and doing everything he can to destroy Parker's life.

When
Jack reveals that there is another kind of Night Walker, known as a
Taker, Parker starts to wonder if the strange things happening in
Oakville are more than just a coincidence. After all, people are more
than just sleepwalking. They're emptying their savings accounts with no
memory of doing so, wandering into strange parts of town and
disappearing, they're even killing other people--all in their sleep. If
Parker wants to find out what's happening or have any hope of seeing his
father again, he’ll have to defy Jack and put his own life in
danger...because the more he learns about these other Night Walkers, the
more certain he becomes that his life isn't the only one that could be
lost.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Hello everyone! So I'm usually on the group tumblr these days (if you haven't checked it out - go here) but I came in to do a dare and make a fool of myself once again. So this dare is great if you are a fantastic artist, like all 3 of my kids. But not so great if you have problems drawing a straight line or a circle. Which would clearly be me. Knowing my inability to draw, Elsie dared me to draw my MC, Kira from Prophecy. And I foolishly took the challenge!

Here was my first attempt. It was important for me to make sure I was accurate by including the yellow eyes and a bow and arrow. The boots were just a special extra I did. But my youngest came by and berated me for drawing her naked.

So I gave her some clothes and a sword. But then apparently my middle daughter came by and asked me if I was drawing a sailor. Damn it, she is not a sailor! So my youngest said, put her on a horse!

My oldest shows up because of the shrieks of laughter emanating from my room and she takes a look and says "why is she riding a platypus?" At this point, I decided to call it a night and loaded up my self-portrait.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Today's dare comes from Alyssa Susanna! Share a passage from one of your old, non-contracted manuscripts.

Trunk novels. We all have them. Very few writers publish their first book. And that's okay! No novel is a waste. This is how we grow and improve, right? But let's face it, those early works can sometimes bring a cringe of shame. And that is what I present to you today. Not just a trunk novel. THE trunk novel.

Today I take you all the way back to 2005, to the very VERY first novel I ever began. You'll note I say "began," because I never actually finished this book. And the world is a better place because of that. This novel never made it past page 40, though I edited and rewrote those 40 pages half a dozen times. And yet, for all my efforts, I couldn't make myself *not* want to punch my MC in the throat.
To be honest, the book sucked.

BUT

But it wasn't all for nothing! Something good did come out of the dull, obnoxious, info-dumpy mass of pages. And that was the idea of magical relics, an idea which you should be familiar with, if you know anything about my debut novel.

Yes, it's true. These first awkward, embarrassingly bad attempts at writing yielded a concept which would get me my first contract.

But we didn't come here for a warm, fuzzy "no work is in vain" moment. You guys want the humiliation. So without further ado, I present a passage from The Trunk Novel of all Trunk Novels, which I lovingly refer to as "The Magic Twin Princesses Novel." The title pretty much says it all. But other than that, you should know that the father of said Twin Princesses is dying and has called his daughters before him.

Enjoy and you're welcome.

“Rose. Camellia. My daughters. I am sorry that it has come to this,” he croaked. Rose gave him more to drink. “Surely you must know by now that I am dying.”

Rose felt her throat tighten. Camellia already had tears glistening on the corners of her eyes.

“One of you must take my place to carry on the Coren dynasty.”

There was a very long pause. Both of the girls had dreaded the thought and never spoken it to each other.

“Do not be afraid,” he continued, “There have been fine Empresses in our past such as . . .” The Emperor gazed at the wall, his mind perplexed with something.

“Empresses such as Drucilla Coren,” Rose offered.

The Emperor nodded slowly again.
“Rose, my girl, you always knew your history of the Corenian Empire.” He smiled weakly and coughed. To his daughters’ dismay, despite his failing memory of history, Coren remembered the task at hand.
“One of you must take my place. Take the Staff.”

His hand made a motion to his right. There, in a marble alcove, built since the Emperor’s illness, stood the brilliant Soltarian Staff.

Rose’s breath trembled ever so slightly, and she felt the tightness in her throat.
The staff itself was carved from the finest, strongest trees in Tove. It had then been plated in gold from the Treeland Alps. Narabian jewels were encrusted in dazzling patterns down the staff. The Corenian Emperors were always eager to emphasize the fact that these countries and all their finery belong to them.

Though, the glory of the Soltarian Staff was clearly the centerpiece. From the top of the staff rose a glimmering pearl unicorn horn. The only whole, unblemished magical object ever to be unearthed shone from the top of the staff, so close to Rose and Camellia that it seemed ridiculous. There stood the most coveted and legendary magical piece in history. It alone had ensured the dominance of the Corenian Emperors.

Named Soltarian for it’s solitary status in power the Staff was so sacred to the Emperors that no one even knew what it looked like, unless they were one of the privileged few who had seen it with their own eyes. The Staff now existed as the only magical relic remaining in the Empire.

“So important,” Coren said, almost to himself. His eyes suddenly fixed on the Staff.

“Father?” Camellia asked hesitantly.

But their father drifted into memory.

Twelve years before Xavier Coren the 11th faced a terrible reality, one that threatened to destroy everything his ancestors had built over the centuries. So long ago, when the pristine horn of the Soltarian Staff fell into the hands of Alexander Coren the 5th the Corenian Empire was born. Alexander Coren wielded the supreme power of the Staff to solidify control on all borders. The magic of the Soltarian Staff bought peace for half of the world and they prospered.

Jageth Coren the 7th initiated a mass mining enterprise and magic, once belonging only to the strong, became available to all. For hundreds of years citizens of the Corenian Empire used magic relics to help them harvest corn and scrub dirty clothes. The Corens condoned such magic. And before long relics could be found in every corner of the Empire.

Unfortunately, power cannot be contained for long. On a pouring summer morning a messenger burst into the Court. With his clothes still drenched, the breathless page choked a deadly message to the Emperor, Xavier Coren the 11th. An unfathomable danger had been created in the North.

“Magic had to be banned!” cried Coren so suddenly, and so loudly that Rose and Camellia both jumped in their seats. Heaving coughs shook the Emperor.

Camellia clasped her father’s trembling hands.
“Rose, some water,” she said, and her sister again brought the goblet to his mouth.

“Magic had to be banned,” he repeated weakly.

“Yes father, we know. It was the only way.”

#humiliation

* * *

Renee is a YA writer and professional
ponderer. She loves historical settings, fantasy, and semi-tragic romance. RELIC is her first novel, now available from Entangled Teen!

Friday, September 27, 2013

I
had the chance to read an ARC of Mindy’s NOT A DROP TO DRINK a few months ago,
and I still think about it now. It was one of those books I come across far too
rarely, the kind that gives me a little thrill as soon as I start reading and
never lets up until I’m done. I loved Lynn from the very start, her voice and
attitude, the whole entire premise of the book which absolutely kept me riveted.

When I approached Mindy with some ideas of what to write about for this release-week post, she thought some Q&A about how "possible" DROP could be as a survival story would be interesting. (Let it be noted here that Mindy--being the librarian that she is--also sent me some links to read as prep. Seriously, I love this girl.)

I'm so very happy to be able to talk about NOT A DROP TO DRINK today! Mindy, huge congratulations on the release of your debut, and thank you so much for
writing this incredible book!

______

Elsie: Did
any specific real-life event spark the idea for NOT A DROP TO DRINK? Or was it
more of a slow burn of a whole bunch of different scenarios and timing just
coming together in the perfect way?

Mindy: Definitely
a real life event, but it was a slow burn. When I was in college I had to take
a geology class and there was one paragraph in my textbook about aquifer
depletion. (Google it, you'll be terrified). I went to class expecting everyone
to be freaking out and nobody seemed bothered (or, ahem, they didn't do the
reading). In any case the idea stuck with me, but it recessed until I watched a
documentary called Blue Gold which is not about aquifers, but
rather the simple math concerning depletion rate of freshwater sources and
human population. It was chilling.

I do
have a small pond in my backyard and I went to bed that night ridiculously
grateful for it. I dreamt about teaching a young girl how to operate a rifle so
that she could help me defend my pond. I woke up and said, "Hey.. I wrote
a book in my head just now."

I had
to wonder what kind of person this child would grow up to be... and Lynn was my
answer.

Elsie: Does
the fact that you live in the midwest have any influence in your decision to go
with water shortage as the issue for DROP? For example, where I live, it's
mostly earthquakes and floods that we talk about, so when I think of natural
disasters, those are the first things to come to mind. Is water shortage an
issue with which you were already familiar?

Mindy: Quite
the opposite, actually. It's set in the Midwest because there *is* plenty of
water here. Unfortunately, if the taps were suddenly turned off a lot of places
in the west would simply... be screwed. (Sorry, westerners). Where I live there
are ponds, small streams, a lot of us have hand-dug wells. So, while there IS
water here, it's still a limited supply. I thought, "You know, once
someone has established a claim on their source, they're not going to give it
up." And out of that, comes violence.

Elsie: In
DROP, water is highly valued and protected. Did you ever consider adding a
dystopian slant to an already pretty plausible post-apocalyptic premise? Such
as water becoming a currency, or a way for a government to control its people,
depending on how its allotted?

Mindy: Nope :)
I wanted NOT A DROP TO DRINK to be a survival story, pure and simple. One of
the most frightening things about where Lynn lives is that there *is* no law,
no governing force. It's everyone for themselves, and that brings out the
worst in most of us, right away.

Elsie: Do
you feel compelled to keep bottled water in the house at all times in case of a
natural disaster? What do you think about the human tendency to hoard, most
likely at the expense of others?

Mindy: I do
drink a lot of water, I'll admit to that! But I don't keep it around, bottled
up or anything like my characters do. In that sense, I'm a total poser because
I totally rely on my tap. I do have three different capped wells on my property
though, so... they're there if I need them.

Hoarding...
oh man. Well, its not healthy - I'll say that. I'm actually very anti-hoarding.
I go through every room in my house every six months and if I haven't touched
it, used it, worn it, watched it, or interacted with it since the last time I
did a sweep it goes to Goodwill. There is no point me having something that other
people might need.

However...
again I am a poser because the exception here is my library. I do weed it every
now and then, but I'm not clearing out the shelves every six months!

NOT A DROP TO DRINK is Mindy’s debut novel, a survival story set in a world where freshwater is almost nonexistent. Available from Harper Collins / Katherine Tegen 9/24/13. Find it at your local bookstore, or online at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Powell's, or Books-A-Million!

Mindy McGinnis is an assistant YA librarian who lives in Ohio and cans her own food. She graduated from Otterbein University magna cum laude with a BA in English Literature and Religion. Mindy has a pond in her back yard but has never shot anyone, as her morals tend to cloud her vision.Visit Mindy on her website, on twitter, and tumblr!